Chip cards (or smart cards) are intended for use in various applications such as divers type of identification operations. Therefore it is necessary that said cards contains a photographic image of the bearer of said card. The earlier chip card were cards where the chip had an outside contact. However said contacts were susceptible to wear and their life span was only a few year. In order to improve the life span of chip cards conctactless cards were introduced, containing a chip and an antenna embedded in a polymeric binder between a supporting layer and a covering layer. Said supporting layer and said covering layer are normally polyvinyl chloride, ABS, non-oriented poly ethylene terephthalate. The life span of these contactless chip card is usually 4 to 5 years.
Said chip cards have, when used for identification purpose, besides a number of security marks, also a number of data and also usually bear a photograph of the owner. The most preferred way to provide the chip card with a photograph of the owner is by creating by diffusion transfer the image of the owner in the image receiving layer of an imaging element and laminating said imaged image-receiving element with the image receiving layer continuous to the chip card.
Said image receiving element is usually composed of a layer package consisting of a transparent support, preferably a subbed polyethylene terephthalate layer, covered on one side with a protective layer and on the other side with a prelayer, and an imaged image receiving layer. When said layer package, after being imaged, is laminated to the contactless chip card, there occurs a separation of layers between the transparent support, preferably a subbed polyethylene terephthalate layer and the prelayer. Thereby the protection of the photographic image and other data applied on the image receiving layer or prelayer is removed and said image and data become prone to wear and falsification. So this is a serious problem and a solution for said problem is urgently needed.